Featuring Bean(?)

    The hotspring felt like lukewarm bathwater.  Sure, Igbi enjoyed the conservatory, but nothing could really compare to the magma heated springs in his own boundary.  Nothing can really beat home. A pang of homesickness struck him, but he squirreled away the feeling. There wasn’t any harm in staying in the conservatory for a little while. Or a long while.

    A nearby clump of foliage shivered as a distinctly orange head poked above green fronds.  The complementary colors were pleasing to the eye, but Igbi was not pleased to see them. The spritely esk hopped towards them, their green eyes peering curiously up at Igbi.  The small clover between their ears quivered as they cocked their head left then right. A bright chest ruff was startlingly white in the conservatory’s light, and a bushy tail followed their compact body as they approached the spring. Delicate dark colored paws stepped on the slippery rocks with caution, as they watched the steam coil and writhe upwards from the water.  It reached up one paw to touch one of the tendrils before it dispersed in the air.

    Igbi watched it cautiously.  He came to this place to specifically be alone.  This was a secluded corner of the conservatory that he had spent a considerable amount of time looking for.  There weren’t that many hot springs here, and the ones that were hotter than this bathtub were typically filled with too many other esks. Passersby that wanted a quick dip in the steaming cauldrons but would stay and inevitably chat for way too long.  Igbi had tried to stay in those spots, but all the voices were like nails on chalkboard within his mind. The fox-like esk dipped a paw into the water, and before Igbi caught himself,

    Get out, he roared, hurling the worlds at the visiting trespasser. What was once a flickering candle of anger had suddenly flamed into a bonfire.  The clover-adorned esk reeled backwards, bright eyes squinting in annoyance before it turned and bound away. A pitifully empty space remained.

    Igbi stared the spot as if a chasm yawned before him.  He wasn’t always like this. That much he was certain about.  I don’t know where this anger comes from, he lied to himself.  He knew where it came from and he also knew it was not anger.  There was a name for it, but he refused to call it that.

    The fury re-sparked to dangerous flame as new green eyes started at him.  Thin whiskers with flowered ends twitched as they peered upwards. They did not fill Igbi’s head with questions and chatter, but, instead, they had a quiet, purposeful reverie.  

    You have been here for a long time, the small esk said, their voice sounded like the whispers of rain. Igbi felt the fury coil like a spring within his stomach. Glowing and red hot.

    You’ve been spying on me? He retaliated, his voice laced with heated emotion.  The other esk’s annoyingly bright eyes just stared back at him.

    No, they said finally said, the word, so simple, seemed difficult for them.  Igbi wanted to snap at the esk for the cryptic nonsense they were uttering, but suddenly the image of the Grandmother filled his mind.  

    The founder, the esk added, as they showed him Grandmother’s dark gaze contained with concern and disappointment.  The latter stung.  It pierced him and touched the very thing he fought to ignore, she’s worried about you.

    Igbi looked away.  He had been a fool to think the Grandmother didn’t see him.  They knew what really lurked within him. They saw the toxic pool that was brewing within him; how it poisoned his veins, rendered him useless, crippled his spirit.

    I can help, the esk before him said, their voice, though soft, held a certain conviction. A powerful truth that Igbi need something that they could provide. Igbi finally looked back at them,

    Ok.

    A glorious sky was dotted with breathy puffs of white clouds, and Igbi regretted the decision to come here. Swarms of more esk than he could imagine had gathered.  More than he’d ever encountered, and that panicked him. What if it happens again.  His guide seemed utterly unphased by the excitement that filled the air.

    On disjointed limbs, they led Igbi to another esk, and Igbi felt the pounding of anxiety rise within his veins.  His feet paused in the grass as he fought the urge to fling himself back to the conservatory and submerge himself into the hot spring again.  Anything to be away from prying eyes.

    I wouldn’t, another voice chimed, their voice was a soothing balm to hot nerves.  Another esk sat peacefully nearby, their attention turning from the throngs of other esk to Igbi. They had dark green fur that coincided well with the thick carpet of grass that carpeted the plains.   Their eyes were kind as their doe shaped head turned to look at him.

    It must be important if Soon brought you here, they added, nodding at the cat esk that had brought Igbi to this strange place and had drifted to socialize with another group of esk. The esk looked fondly at Soon, he is a kind friend and creator.  Her attention shifted back to Igbi.

    My name is Mist, she said, her voice curious and probing. It wasn’t like Igbi to be shy, and as much as he longed for new friends, he couldn’t bring himself to return the courtesy.  Mist didn’t seem phased, instead she looked past him,

    Apteno, she greeted warmly, eyes squinting with delight. Igbi turned and was startled but the immense esk who approached. Their form was barren of any nature features; an indication they were a visitor like him, but Igbi had never seen an esk of this size.  They’d heard stories of the Grandmother’s grandiose form, but he’d never visited her. He feared he was not worthy, and her disappointment in him confirmed the thought. Apteno bent to look downwards at Mist and Igbi,

    It’s good to meet with you again Mist, Apteno said, his head seemed even bigger as it lowered towards them.   A coal colored eyed studied Mist and then swiveled towards Igbi. He shrunk away, trying to not make eye contact with the massive esk.  These visitors were kind to welcome him into their midst, and he feared that he might slip and make the mistake again. He didn’t want to cause them the pain or fear he had powerfully performed not too long ago. Apteno noticed Igbi recoil onto himself,

    No need to be afraid friend, Apteno said with concern. Igbi felt the fury spark within him.  All of his former patience and understanding had long left him to be nothing except a bitter and volatile husk.

    Yes, there is, he snapped at the newcomer, instantly regretting saying all three words.  Apteno and Mist looked taken aback at the violent response, and Igbi, disgusted himself, reeled backwards from the pair.  He scrambled away from them both, his claws tearing at clumps of soil. He couldn’t remove himself fast enough. He fled from the group fueled by the burning sensation their confused gazes left at the back of his skull.

    The plains did not seem big enough for his escape.  The rolling hills seemed to rise into mountains that would swell and crush him.  The sky pressed from above to suffocate him. How do you get back to the conservatory? He thought desperately, his feet tore at the grass, searching for any escape that would not be granted to him. He slowed, eventually, his form became weak and fading around the edges after the physical exertion outside of his boundary.  Pieces of him flickered between incorporeal and corporeal. He heaved in air he felt he needed.

    He could still make out the distant forms of the gathered esks, but he couldn’t go back.  He just wanted to go home. He lifted his head skywards and caught sight of another esk also separating themselves from a group.  They were tall, with a thick, upright mane. Mottled grey fur contrasted the brightly glowing horn that protruded from their forehead.  They had a power that was much more vast than what Igbi contained. It felt similar to the Grandmother, and Igbi understood that this Esk was one of the first children the Grandmother brought to this world.  They glanced at him, his sole form catching their attention. They were silhouetted against the bright sky, anxiety snapped around them. Their own fur seemed to be crackling with it.

    Igbi was captivated, not by their looks, but by the way they looked at him. Their gaze contained all the normal things, curiosity, wonder, and hesitation, but that was not what held Igbi’s attention.  It was what was underneath. A poison. A soul tainted by a malignant toxin that couldn’t be removed but only cultivated into something profoundly worse. A tumor with reaching limbs to poison anything it could touch until it crippled it’s host.  Reduced them to wondering who they really were, what they represented, and if they were actually good for anything. Yes it was there. This esk, they knew the name for it too.

    Shame.

    Vetru is not unlike you, Soon’s soft voice chimed into Igbi’s mind once again, the esk hovered nearby after they followed Igbi’s hasty departure.  Despite Igbi’s almost tangible desire to flee this place, he knew, with certainty, he must stay.